Environmental study to be focus

By J. Harry Jones

UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

January 21, 2008

Workshops will be held next week to help people understand what a recently released 7,500-page environmental study says about various routes the proposed Sunrise Powerlink transmission line might take.

The environmental impact report also outlines other options that will be considered by the state before approving or denying the San Diego Gas & Electric power line project. The report and workshops are the work of the California Public Utilities Commission and U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

SDG&E has proposed building the $1.4 billion, 150-mile-long electric transmission line to link future energy-generating projects in the Imperial Valley to San Diego.

Opponents say the line is not needed, would cause irreparable damage to the environment, and would be a visual blight. Those who live near the proposed route are also concerned about the effect it would have on property values.

The proposed route would take the line through Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and Santa Ysabel Valley, loop south of Ramona and through Rancho Peñasquitos to Carmel Valley. The line would go underground near Ramona and in Rancho Peñasquitos.

The environmental report examines the effects SDG&E's route would have and also details six options. The report concludes that all but one option would be less damaging to the environment than SDG&E's proposal.

The report does not address financial issues.

The workshops were set up to answer questions and inform the public about participating in the decision-making.

The informal two-hour workshops will be followed by public hearings in late February.